The All Star Team roster of nine posts is the same as that announced at the FIFA Gala, compiled by FIFPro, the World Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), based on the votes of its members. The same defense (Trent Alexander-Arnold, Vigil Van Dijk, Sergio Ramos and Alfonso Davis) is the same as the midfield trio (Joshua Kimmich, Kevin De Bruyne and Thiago Alcantara). The attacking trio secured two seats for Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski, who also featured in eleven players on FIFPro.
The difference is partly due to the goalkeeper column. On FIFPro, Brazilian Alison Baker won, and he wasn’t overrated, surprisingly. What’s more, at the same ceremony, another voter base chose Manuel Neuer as the best goalkeeper for 2020. The Bayern Munich keeper also won at L’Equipe, in recognition of a truly exceptional performance for 2020.
Eleven 2020 for internet users.
The Eleven World 2020 of “The Team”: https://t.co/2JaHPDLDIb pic.twitter.com/vZEwvw6ZCL
– The team (@ the team) January 4, 2021
The surprise of the list is that Neymar Jr. of the PSG finalists was also included in the Eleventh Dream. Nobody can question Neymar’s abilities, but in 2020 his colleague Kylian Mbappe was more productive than him, so it is surprising in itself that if there was indeed a striker from Paris Saint-Germain in the eleventh dream, he is not the French world champion. But it might not have been unfair either for Zlatan Ibrahimovi, a 38-year-old Swede who raised Milan to the top of Italian teams with some exaggeration, joining CR7 and Lewandowski.
Either way, Lionel Messi was disqualified, which is rare. There have been a few “eleven dreams” in the last good decade that have been pickable and inappropriate.
Opening Image: MTI / EPA-EFE / Alejandro Garcia
